An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an aircraft that operates without a pilot aboard. A UAV may be an airplane or helicopter, for example, radio-controlled by a human utilizing a handheld radio controller. UAVs have a number of uses. For example, militaries around the world have developed weaponized drones configured to deliver bombs or missiles.
While a remote operator can use a UAV to view an environment from the UAV's perspective, the information available to the remote operator (e.g., via a camera mounted to the UAV) is typically inferior to information that can be collected in-person. For example, while a structural engineer might use a UAV to visually observe a crack in a building, he or she typically would be unable to precisely quantify the nature of the crack, making it difficult to accurately analyze the structural integrity of the building. By comparison, when visiting the building in-person, the engineer can inspect the building (where accessible) to measure the dimensions of the crack (e.g., the depth, width, and height), which might be used in an analysis regarding the structural integrity of the building.